1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a latch structure attachably and detachably holding a connector in the cage and a cable with connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in accordance with speeding up of communication, a next generation I/O interface (I/O architecture) such as InfiniBand and PCI Express (which are registered trademarks in USA) is put to practical use. In the InfiniBand and PCI Express, high speed band frequency is realized by using a plurality of channels which are bundled.
In a connector used for the InfiniBand and PCI Express, the shape and dimension thereof are defined in accordance with the connection type and the number of the channel by a standard called MSA (Multi Source Agreement).
As an example, a cable with connector used for the PCI Express is shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B.
As shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the cable with connector 120 includes a connector 121 having a connector body 123 having an almost rectangular parallelepiped shape and an insertion part 124 formed on an end surface of the connector body 123, and a cable (a metal cable) 122 connected to the connector 121.
The cable with connector 120 is electrically connected to a communication device via a cage and a blade by inserting the insertion part 124 of the connector 121 into the cage (not shown) fixed to the blade (a line card) located at the side of the communication device such as a server. A latch structure 125 removably holding the connector 121 in the cage is installed in the connector body 123 of the connector 121.
The conventional latch structure 125 has a structure that a latch removal member 126 is slidably housed in a slide groove 130 formed on the upper surface of the connector body 123 and a cover 127 is installed so as to cover the upside of the latch disengagement member 126.
A engagement claw 128 to engage with an engagement hole formed on an upper surface of the cage from above is formed in an end portion of the cover 127 (right side in FIGS. 12A and 12B), and the rear end portion (left side in FIGS. 12A and 12B) is fixed to the upper surface of the connector body 123.
A convex part 131 having an almost circular arc-like shape on a side view which becomes convex toward a side of the connector body 123 (lower side in FIGS. 12A and 12B) is formed in an end portion of the latch disengagement member 126 (right side in FIGS. 12A and 12B), and the convex part 131 is housed in a convex part housing groove 132 formed in the slide groove 130, the groove 132 having an almost circular arc-like shape on a side view. Also, a lever part 129 is formed in a rear end portion of the latch disengagement member 126 (left side in FIGS. 12A and 12B). The lever part 129 is installed so as to project to rearward of the connector body 123 (left side in FIGS. 12A and 12B).
The conventional latch structure 125 is operable to allow the convex part 131 to be lifted upward along the convex part housing groove 132 by pulling the lever part 129 of the latch disengagement member 126 backward, consequently, the end portion of the cover 127 is lifted upward, and the engagement claw 128 is lifted upward. As just described, the conventional latch structure 125 functions to allow the connector 121 to be attached to and detached from the cage by pulling the lever part 129 of the latch disengagement member 126 backward so as to lift the engagement claw 128 upward.
Further, this technique is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-2004-343506, JP-A-2004-311207, U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,484, and US-A-2003/0049000.
However, since the conventional latch structure 125 has the lever part 129 of the latch disengagement member 126 which is installed so as to project to rearward of the connector body 123, it has a problem that the lever part 129 is complicated in appearance. Particularly, when a plurality of cables with connector 120 are connected to the blade or the like, the lever part 129 of each of the cables with connector 120 projects from a front surface of the blade, so that the appearance becomes extremely complicated.
Also, the conventional latch structure 125 has a problem that the connector 121 is difficult to attach and detach, since it is needed to attach and detach the connector 121 while pulling the lever part 129.